State Police Step Up Seat Belt Enforcement

FRANKFORT,KY--Police will be on the roads in greater numbers this week as part of Click It or Ticket.

This national campaign encourages seat belt usage in order to decrease traffic fatalities. According to annual surveys by the University of Kentucky, 83% of state drivers use seatbelts. This is 3% less than the national average.

"Too many motorists don't realize the importance of wearing a seat belt, and are severely injured or killed because of it," says Bill Bell, Director of the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. He notes that Kentucky's roadway fatalities increased from 721 in 2011 to 746 in 2012, and in more than half of roadway accidents, the victims did not buckle up.

Click It or Ticket aims to reduce these statistics by enforcing seatbelt violations more stringently statewide. Bell notes that the campaign has already yielded positive results.

"The younger drivers, which we consider from 16 years old to 24 years old, they had a decrease. They were one of the few age ranges that had a decrease from 2011 to 2012 in fatalities. They were down about 10%," Bell said.

Click It or Ticket runs from May 20th to June 2nd. Kentucky Police hope the campaign leads to increased seat belt use year-round.